Ohio hunters bagging fewer deer

Multiple factors involved in lower numbers killed during gun season

Dec. 26, 2013

Written by

Larry Phillips

CentralOhio.com

Deer Kill Decline

The total of deer killed during Ohio’s annual gun season, which traditionally lasts one week, has decreased consistently over the past six years. The totals for deer gun season are listed below. 2008: 116,797 2009: 114,633 2010: 104,442 2011: 90,282 2012: 86,964 2013: 75,408 Source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

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COLUMBUS — Managing the state’s deer population remains a delicate dance, and the focus of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The numbers of deer killed during Ohio’s week-long gun season decreased again this year, continuing a trend that began in 2008. But that isn’t bad news, according to John Windau, the ODNR’s wildlife communications officer.

Fewer deer to harvest and fewer deer hunters are but two of many factors leading to statistical decline.

“In the last decade, the deer population in Ohio peaked,” Windau said. “Most counties were way above target (the ideal deer population).”

Ohio’s Division of Wildlife is trying to thin the herd to keep it strong, curtail disease, and limit crop damage the creatures wreak on the state’s farms. It’s a balancing act.

“They need to keep hunters happy since licenses and permits constitute a high percentage of their yearly budget,” said Dick Martin, a retired Shelby biology teacher who has written an outdoor column for more than 20 years. “They need to keep farmers happy, at least reasonably so, since crop damage is an issue in many counties. And they need to keep the insurance companies (and the general public) happy by reducing deer numbers since each car-deer collision costs them $2,000 to 3,000.

“I think that overall the DOW is doing a good job by fine tuning the numbers of deer in each county.”

Once deer populations reach an optimum number in each county, they’ll gradually stabilize the number of animals killed each year and maintain numbers at that point.

Windau said deer totals are all over the board and are monitored in each of Ohio’s 88 counties.

“Some counties are way above target,” Windau said. “Some are at target and others are somewhere in between.”

To see where your county stands, simply look at the bag limits. The number of deer one is allowed to take will reveal where authorities believe the problems lie.

“The Division of Wildlife has been systematically reducing deer numbers in counties with high populations. They’re doing so by allowing hunters to bag high numbers of does in selected counties but only one buck,” Martin said. “If a hunter takes advantage of all possible permits around the state they can bag nine deer, but eight must be does.

“From gun season on essentially all does will be pregnant, which means each doe killed is actually three deer killed.”

Ohio also has bow season, and muzzleloader season. The latter accounted for approximately 5,600 deer taken — which may have been a factor in the traditional deer gun totals, Windau said. In essence, deer can be harvested from the end of September through February. The weapon of choice is the variable.

“Once deer populations reach an optimum number in each county, they’ll gradually stabilize the number of animals killed each year and maintain numbers at that point,” Martin said.